Co-founders Mike Walker and Mark Hemmings reunite at the company they built together, innovators of Mattersphere and Minerva to drive the next phase of AI-led innovation for law firms across the UK.
Law Firm Services (LFS) is delighted to announce the return of legal technology pioneer Mike Walker as chief technology and product officer – a reunion that marks a new chapter for both the business and its flagship platform, Minerva.
Mike rejoins LFS co-founder and CEO Mark Hemmings in what both describe simply as “getting the band back together”.
More than 20 years after cofounding the foundation of LFS, Mike’s return is a homecoming. Mike and Mark built MatterSphere at FWBS, a company they co-founded, creating a legal case management solution for Microsoft Office when most competitors used MS-DOS. Their platform became the basis for MatterSphere, which still serves law firms worldwide today.
A career built on legal technology innovation
Mike brings over 30 years of legal technology experience to this role – a career defined by building award winning products that genuinely reshape how lawyers work, rather than adding technology for its own sake.
Following the acquisition of FWBS by Thomson Reuters in 2011, Mike became chief software architect of the Thomson Reuters Legal Enterprise Solutions Group, leading enterprise grade architecture for some of the largest and most complex law firms applications in the world. He subsequently joined Peppermint Technology, where he spent nine years helping to build and scale its market leading CX365 CRM and case management platform.
During this time working closely with Microsoft across the UK and United States, contributing to advisory boards and product roadmaps, and building deep relationships within the Microsoft ecosystem. Peppermint was acquired by Litera in February 2025.
Throughout his career, Mike has maintained a consistent philosophy: technology should work in service of the smarter lawyer complementing how people think and operate, not complicating or replacing it.
A new chapter for Minerva
Minerva LFS’s flagship solution has built its reputation on intelligent, compliant and secure client onboarding originally developed for the conveyancing sector, where early client engagement is critical, but now delivering for firms across all legal disciplines. After a record-breaking year in 2025, the business is investing in people, technology and have a strategic vision to build the next version of this already unique solution.
Under Mike’s technical leadership, LFS is now broadening Minerva’s original vision with a clear strategic intent: to evolve the platform into a full client engagement solution that supports law firms not just at the point of onboarding, but across the entire client journey.
The new strategic direction is captured in three objectives:
| Objective | Description |
| Grow | Support firms to convert more enquiries and increase matter throughput |
| Retain | Create client experiences that build loyalty and drive repeat instruction |
| Deliver | Provide a secure, compliant and efficient journey for both lawyers and clients |
“Our mission is not to replace the systems firms already rely on. It is to augment them. We see Minerva as a digital workforce working alongside your case management system, not trying to rip it out and start again. Being able to work back alongside Mark in a fulltime capacity is something I’m genuinely energised by. We’ve got ambitious plans, great customers, and a platform with real momentum. I can’t wait to help build what comes next.”
Mike Walker, chief product and technology officer
AI with purpose – not hype
AI is one of the most overused and misunderstood terms in the technology industry today and the legal sector is no exception. LFS is taking a deliberate and disciplined approach.
Rather than pursuing AI for the sake of positioning, the focus is on targeted, deterministic digital workforces focused agents that carry out specific, well-defined tasks within the legal workflow. This means AI that removes friction, reduces duplication and supports decision making, always with a human in the loop and always deployed responsibly.
Customers on LFS’s advisory board are already engaged in the early thinking behind these capabilities and will be among the first to see the generative value being built innovatively, and at pace.
Central to this is LFS’s longstanding and deepening relationship with Microsoft. Mike’s extensive experience working across the Microsoft ecosystem from advisory boards to product launch events positions LFS to maximise the return from Microsoft’s evolving technology stack in ways that create real, measurable value for law firms.
Easier to buy. Easier to implement. Easier to use.
A core part of Mike’s mandate extends beyond the product itself. Alongside platform development, the leadership team is focused on three operational objectives: making Minerva easier to buy by providing clear benefits; easier to implement by removing friction and delay from onboarding; and easier to consume, ensuring lawyers and support teams adopt it with confidence and speed.
Security and trust will also sit at the heart of the roadmap, with Minerva’s compliance posture set to mature significantly through 2026.
“It’s a real pleasure to be working with Mike Walker again. He’s one of the sharpest minds in legal tech, and we’re very lucky to have him on board. His expertise and perspective will be invaluable as we continue to evolve Minerva and make it easier for firms to buy, implement and adopt with confidence – exciting times ahead.”
Ben Mills, commercial director
The band is back together
For Mike and Mark, this reunion is more than strategic; it is personal. The Monday curry tradition of their early FWBS days may have given way to daily coffees at Number 68 Coffee House, but the shared ambition that drove them then is fully intact.
“Having Mike back in a more full time capacity has already shifted the energy and the opportunity. We’ve been on a great trajectory a record year in 2025 and now we’re doubling down on that vision with someone who has lived and breathed this industry his entire career. Our customers are going to see something special in what we’re building together. I’m excited about where this takes us.”
Mark Hemmings, CEO
As Minerva evolves beyond intelligent onboarding into a full client engagement platform, the message to the market is clear. This is not an incremental update it is a renewed commitment to innovation, operational excellence and AI enabled growth, built by people who have shaped legal technology for three decades and are far from done.
This article was submitted by Law Firm Services as part of an advertising agreement with Today’s Conveyancer. The views expressed in this article are those of the submitter and not those of Today’s Conveyancer.
